AW-4 install

[carnuck]

That's pretty much the same as mine. Renix is much easier to pluck it from. I used the leftovers from the harness of an '88 XJ I parted some time ago. SOTE will go EFI later but for now has a manal controller (someone stole the 4.2 and AW4 that was pulled for rebuilding)

[Nightpath]

Did you use the existing transmission Mount holes and create a bracket to mount off of those? I think that's what my end plan will be.

As for the wiring, the body is rotted enough on the donor that I'll just rip holes in the to get what I need.

My mechanic friend and I are going to fab up all the other stuffs, cut holes, make brackets and stuff, to fit it all in.

[carnuck]

First, I'm going with the FSJ and using the 6 cyl trans mount holes. On SOTE, we used the XJ member and added a spacer to the floor. For my Eagle I plan to make an extender plate from the Eagle mount or build a crossbar.

[Baskinator]

Couple questions,

1. What did you do for the shifter and driveshafts?

2. What gear ratio were you both running? I don't think the overdrive would work very well with my 2.35 gears

[eaglefreek]

Couple questions,

1. What did you do for the shifter and driveshafts?

2. What gear ratio were you both running? I don't think the overdrive would work very well with my 2.35 gears

1. I used the shifter from an XJ. It's not 100% done. I wasn't able to figure out how to mount the indicator plate and just have a rubber boot over the shifter.  I installed a 242 transfer case. I think there will be some major interference with the floor if the 129 is used. I had to have the front shaft made longer and I  got a rear shaft from a 2wd ZJ shortened.
2. 2.35's definitely won't work. I have 225/75/15's and had 3.07's before the install and they weren't up to the task. It would jump in and out of OD until after 70 mph. I've got 3.54's now and feel that would be the highest that should go with an AW4. 3.73's if a lot of towing will be done.

[Nightpath]

I agree with those gears. I think a 3.2x may work in a pinch (found some out there but aren't going to touch it).

From my measurements, the transmission mount will be back a few inches. I think I'll fab up a plate to bolt into the stock position then drop a bit and allow the XJ transmission mount to work.

Driveshaft in the rear should be fine as is. Front with a 242 I think would have to be lengthened...231 should be fine as is.

4x4 shifter will need to be accounted for with some fab work (hole in the floor needs to be cut).

AW4 shifter in the XJ is a cable shifter. Should be able to gussy that up with relative ease I hope. ( http://www.lunghd.com/Tech_Articles/Transmission_and_Transfer_Case/Transmission_Automatic_Shifter_Adjustments.htm )

Wondering how similar the transmission hump is on the XJ with the Eagle. The XJ has a "plate" over that area that has all the needed cut out areas, as well as the mount for the shifter. I might try to tap that out to see how well it'd fit...would make the conversion a LOT simpler. It situates the shifter above the tunnel, no hole needed so I could weld that shut.

Here's a link to what I'm talking about : http://blog.choppedoctopus.com/2012/11/jeep-cherokee-xj-rusty-floors.html

[eaglefreek]

Driveshaft in the rear should be fine as is. Front with a 242 I think would have to be lengthened...231 should be fine as is.

Maybe if a SYE is installed. Otherwise you have a slip yoke on the 242/231 and a slip on the Eagle driveshaft. You can't have both.

[carnuck]

Couple questions,

1. What did you do for the shifter and driveshafts?

2. What gear ratio were you both running? I don't think the overdrive would work very well with my 2.35 gears

I'm going column shift but the Eagle one could be modded or use one from an XJ. On SOTE the Eagle front shaft worked after swapping the tcase yoke to match.

I swapped to 3.08 for the 727 I put in and that should work well with the 235/75/15s on the wagon (Brown Betty) when I switch it. I just got a '93 Grand Cherokee for parts (4.0 with 1 year only AW4 and NV242 instead of the usual 42RE/NV249 I dislike) It doesn't have a speedo cable so I need to deal with that. Probably that one will go into my Honcho with the 304.

2.72 would be okay with stock sized tires (I felt it needed an O/D before I did the swap and even with the bigger tires and lift, it needs O/D for freeway driving) If you ran undersized (height that is) tires then an O/D could be run. I had the lockup 998 in my '84 wagon with the Meximotor and cruised the freeway at 70 mph+ no prob with 235/75/15 tires and 2.37 gears.

SOTE ran 3.55 XJ axle in rear and 3.43 Eagle in front. (242 with 4x4 offroad only)

[carnuck]

Driveshaft in the rear should be fine as is. Front with a 242 I think would have to be lengthened...231 should be fine as is.

Maybe if a SYE is installed. Otherwise you have a slip yoke on the 242/231 and a slip on the Eagle driveshaft. You can't have both.

On SOTE we put the YJ slip yoke on the Eagle shaft and a hose clamp on the slip joint to make it the right length.

[captspillane]

I installed a NP242 into my Red SX4 with this rear driveshaft. I've driven it for several years this way and there are no noticeable vibrations or problems. I found out that the XJ slip yoke is directly compatible with the stock eagle universal joints. It pops right off the junkyard shaft and directly onto the original Eagle driveshaft. You can't drive it this way until you disable the original slip joint, however, or the driveshaft will slide right out the back of the transfer case. I initially used two split PVC pipe halves held on by four hose clamps to figure out how much pipe I needed to add. I then found a piece of old steel handrail that had the perfect inner and outer diameter to slide perfectly and snuggly into place.

[eaglefreek]

I'm a junkyard dog and try to save money where I can, but there are certain things I choose to do what I think is the right way. The 2wd ZJ driveshaft cost me $20 and it was just under $100 to have it shortened and balanced including new u-joints. But, I do realize there are more than one way to do things.

[Nightpath]

The driveshafts on the front and rear, barring the length, would be interchangeable correct?

I have the stock XJ ones, as well as a few front and rear driveshafts from the SX/4 to put into play. I can also snag more Eagle driveshafts if required (would rather not though, old rotted cars + climbing underneath isn't fun)

I think for the AW4 + NP231 going in I should be relatively good to go with whats on there now without sawing apart or adding new parts in. Until I get a NP242

[captspillane]

The NP242/249/247 transfer cases share the same bolt pattern in the center of the case as a 219/119/229/129. The entire front casting has the same dimensions and is basically identical for all of those. You use the short Eagle front yoke to match the Eagle driveshaft. The Jeep front yokes are much longer and use different U bolts, which is a way of making up for longer transmissions too.

The NP231 transfer case only shares the same bolt pattern in the center with the 208 and maybe the 241. It is entirely different than the others I use. I wouldn't use one at all, but if you do you might have a small difference in the position of the yoke and I do not know offhand if the yokes are interchangeable with the Eagle front yoke. They probably are.

The front slip yoke in the Eagle driveshaft is only there to eat up vibrations. If it locks up your front axle bolts will vibrate free in a hurry. The good thing is that the entire travel is about an eighth of an inch, so you have several inches of adjustability built into the stock front driveshaft.

You also have two different lengths you can scrounge around for since T5/SR4 Eagles are about 3" shorter than Automatic Eagles. Likewise the longer rear driveshaft from a stickshift Eagle could probably work as is without a pipe in a slip yoke AW4/242 combination. It is pretty convenient that the length of the pipe I used is about the difference between them. My goal is to never create a custom length driveshaft for any of my conversions and to just make a list of possible front yoke/driveshaft/ and drivetrain combinations that work as is.

[Nightpath]

This got me to thinking. I'm going to trade the 231 for the 242 transfer case. May as well get it in now and have that AWD availability that came stock on my delicious old purple dinosaur

[carnuck]

Just be careful about the spline count! AW4 was 21 spline '87-08/'90 and 23 spline after that. AX-15s are all 23 spline. BA 10/5 is 21 spline. The 4 cyl cases are 21 spline for std and AW4, but 23 spline for 904 (most are 909, which is the lockup version with the slot for crank position sensor)